Gatekeeper
by NCR Ranger
Summary: Reach cracked before her guard did. Even after that happened, though, nobody can deny: Reach stands.


She was our fortress among the stars.

Proudly, she wore her scars.

Left by the builders of her might.

Ones who left her a shining light.

* * *

Mountains, carpted with snow and frost

On them, many did get lost

Mega-Cities, gleaming and grand

The finest feature of the land

Forests, lush and colored like jade

In them, many a summer cabin was lovingly made

Deserts, hot and dry

Filled with coarse sand- why ?

Was the way Reach's landscape looked

To all who she got hooked

* * *

Hundreads of millions called her home

For them, Reach was Rome

They had their domain, powerfully set

They enjoyed and lived every day, dry or wet

* * *

To defend and fight for them, on Reach there stood

A UNSC garrison, stronger than Beech tree wood

Millions of soldiers, all armed to the teeth

A legion of fighters, all with swords in the sheath

Brave volunteers, each of them to a man

Aware that to live in peace, ready to fight

* * *

High above, floating in space

Was the indomitable armada of this star powerbase

A hundred ships and Orbital MACs, maybe more

Battleships, cruisers, coilguns, standing at the door

By their firepower combined, what strength they had

To have that on their side, Reach's inhabitants were quite glad

* * *

This was Reach; a bulwark, a habitat

A place to live and a scource of strength; it was certainly that

Those on her surface lived as you do now

With struggles and fears, yes, but onward they did plow

Because they were children of Reach, and it was their domain

Always finding joy and solace, no matter how busy their days became

* * *

But, while Reach thrived in her glory days

A grave threat was not far aways.

A tide of fire and boom

A cult of evil and doom

They were each of them a revenant

They called themselves: the Covenant

* * *

Many worlds, had they burned to a crisp

Entire planets, burned to leave nothing but a wisp

Fueled by faith, fury, and a drive to ascend

The edge of their crusade was close around the bend

Their twisted goals, was to do no less-

Than leave Humanity's existance an utter mess

* * *

On a clear, pretty day, they arrived at Reach

The sounds of their fighter's engines was a dreadful screech

A horde of their ships, weapons glowing red

Carried with them a spirit of dread

Thousands upon hundreds of thousands, they came

And nobody's days on Reach would ever be the same

* * *

The battle opened with a roar of white hot shot

Practice rounds, they were not

The opposing fleets, met and clashed

Thier vessels hulls were torn and smashed

Xeno plasma burned, slagged and scorched

Human missiles exploded, detonated and torched

Massive ships shattered like toys, carved to bits

They'd taken way too many hits

UNSC sailors died, defending Reach's skies

Calling them cowards would be pure lies

* * *

As debris and the dead fell all around

The invasion spread to Reach's ground

Legions of Covenant attacked the towns

They advanced by leaps and bounds

Unleashing plasma and death, till everything would smolder

They did not care wether you were child or soldier

* * *

Thier eradication of Reach's denizens was not unopposed

With bullets and explosves, they were hosed

By thier adversary's own legions: Reach's sons

Of courage and boldnes, they had tons

* * *

From Manassas to Quezon

From New Alexandria and everywhere across

Human warriors fought, to show who was boss

With rifles and tanks, grenades, from open plains to the mists

When they had no more ammo, they relied on their fists

Across the Viery Terriotry, Spartans did lead-

A Noble charge, for bravery was their creed

* * *

Soon, the human dead littered the field

Evidence and proof they would not yield

Scores of them fallen, fighting for the sake

Of the citizens of Reach, who they would not let the Covenant take

Fires raged from broken cities, and smoke turned the sky-

Red and fierce, the color of die

* * *

Nothing could stop the Covenant's drive

Even as they slogged into the midst of the Human hive

Thier own losses beyond counting

But Humanity's dead were beyond mounting

* * *

The sheer might of the Covenant was burning through them

Its overwhelming weight nobody could stem

But, though millions of were dead and slain, millions lived on

And they needed someone to defend them, until they could escape and be gone

They had to keep counting on those who fought

The garisson of Reach, who's skills they sought

* * *

And fight they did, stubbornly and with resolution

Defiance was the only solution

Death had came for them at last

But, they'd force it to fight to take them all

They were the civllians' stone wall

Ensuring _their_ survival was every Reach Defender's goal

In their lines, they could allow no hole

* * *

Their stubborness wore the Covenant's patience thin

So, they resorted to the only way to win

From their aramada, now the only one in space

They unloaded a plasma bombardment all over the place

* * *

Reach's forests were burnt to cinders

Her mountains, they crumbled like timbers

The searing white fire consumed _all_ it found

Utter devastation was wrought all around

Nothing could stand where the plasma struck

Across the horizon, the terrain itself became a molten muck

* * *

Soon, it was done; Reach had been chared

Every square inch of a whole world; baked and burned hard

The oceans themselves, boiled to steam

Every lake too, and every river and stream

* * *

The Covenant had succeeded, and they'd landed a heavy blow

Humanity's chances at victory were at an all new low

Reach had housed so many of their forces

Now, the cynics said: We might as well use horses

* * *

So many had lived there, and so many were so brave

By now for all of them, Reach was their grave

Millions and millions, all cold and dead

The Covenant's march had put their existence to bed

* * *

In the face of such anihilation

It can be hard to tell the full situation

That even then, _even_ then-

There was an ember

That burned so hot, the opposite of the coldest December

* * *

The Covenant's true goal eludes them even now

After Reach's fall, they could only wonder: How ?

These humans resist, the ones who slipped out

The crushing of their fortress, which collapsed under our clout

* * *

The answer to that is simple, really:

To Humanity's defense, _billions_ have sworn fealty

The Fall of Reach has, for them, ignited a fire

And for the Covenant, things will become quite dire

* * *

If they can comprehend

The meaning of fear

Then many humans will bring it to them

From far and near

That Reach may be history, and nothing but slag

The Covenant's final victory is not in the bag

* * *

_Every_ Human, and _every_ son of Reach

Fighting across the Human empire, going forward unto the breach

Across deserts and jungles, across seas and shoals

Are unleashing the full force of their combined souls

* * *

From billions of throats, screaming with hate

Bellowed with defiance; Humanity's signature trait

Reminding the Covenant, of a truth that burns like a light

**" Reach didn't die ! She will always fight ! "**


End file.
